by Linda Straker
- CDB Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund launched in 2017
- Multi-country project at marketing carnivals awarded US$30,000
Grenada is among 3 OECS territories that will benefit from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) which was launched in 2017 and had its first call for proposals in 2018.
The focus will be on the island’s carnival product and it is part of a multi-country project which also involves Dominica and St Lucia. The proposal was submitted by Export Saint Lucia and is entitled “Branding and Commercialisation of Carnival in Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Grenada.”
A news release from CDB said the project award of US$30,000 has different components. “The project includes an industry assessment and gap analysis, development of the intellectual property aspect of a policy framework and the development of a strategic and action plan inclusive of brand development toward the sustainability of the industry,” said the release.
Kelvin Jacob, Chief Executive Officer of Spicemas Corporation (SMC), said that the initiative is aimed at marketing the carnivals of the 3 islands. “Basically, there will an audit of the 3 carnivals on how they are promoted now. It will be assessing each island, looking at the branding and other initiatives in going forward,” he said.
The Caribbean Development Bank recently announced that it had approved US$350,000 for 4 projects that are geared at increasing cultural collaboration and improving the enabling environment for culture and the creative arts in the region.
The funding came under the Enabling Environment grant stream of the bank’s CIIF. The grant finances interventions to support projects and programmes that focus on improving the business climate for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the cultural industries.
Besides the Grenada, Dominica, and St Lucia project, another project is the animation initiative “A Model for Caribbean Collaboration: The Animation Industry,” which is the result of a partnership between the Jamaica Promotion Corporation (JAMPRO), Animae Caribe and TT Film Co.
That project received a US$100,000 grant that will be used to finance value chain mapping, identification of gaps and best practices and harmonisation of training across the region.
CDB says that five educational institutions — the University of Trinidad and Tobago, George Mason University, Barbados Community College, University of London and the Carnival Institute of Trinidad and Tobago — will be working together to deliver the Pan Fellowship Programme, another recipient of an Enabling Environment Grant.
The programme will see a curriculum being developed for 12-month undergraduate, and two-year certificate programmes that focus on cultural context as a key consideration in both performance and instruction of the steel pan. The programme received a grant of US$90,000.
Another grant recipient is “Fahina: Re-branding the Creative Industry of Maya Women in Belize” a fashion industry project from the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, Belize National Institute of Culture and History (NICH), Belize Tourism Industry Association. This project which received a grant of US$130,000 and it will provide a source of economic empowerment to Mayan women, innovating new designs, developing culturally appropriate branding and creating digital platforms to access and integrate Mayan creative products into the global marketplace.
CIIF was established in 2017 with an initial US$2.6 million in capitalisation from CDB. It is intended to be a multi-donor fund, which will support the development of the creative industries sector in the Caribbean.
